First-time marijuana offenders often are given a break in New Hampshire.

The House recently passed a bill to decriminalize a small amount of the drug. The bill isn't expected to survive the Senate, but if it did, Gov. John Lynch said he'll veto it.

The Vermont House is set to debate its fiscal 2009 spending plan tomorrow, but Governor Jim Douglas says he doesn't like the House version of the budget.

Here are the top stories at 7:30 a.m.:

Vermont state officials say rising fuel costs are behind increases in maple syrup prices, which are expected to hit $40 per gallon at retail this year; In the coming weeks, lawmakers will be voting on a plan to conduct an independent safety inspection of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant...

In the coming weeks, lawmakers will be voting on a plan to conduct an independent safety inspection of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. Backers of the proposal say it's critical to complete the review before the plant can receive a 20-year license extension. But there's heated debate over the scope of this investigation.

VPR's Bob Kinzel reports.

A Christian theologian who immigrated to the United States from Croatia in the early 1990's brings his perspective on regional conflicts to St. Michael's College tonight.

Miroslav Volf now teaches at Yale Divinity School and will speak about "Identity and Otherness in a Fractured World."

Ben & Jerry's Homemade appears to be backing away from plans for a big theme park at its Waterbury facility.

The Vermont Frost Heaves are two for two -- two years in existence and two American Basketball Association championships.

Whether making bread for a living or merely shopping for it at the supermarket, Vermonters are feeling the brunt of sharply rising prices for grains and other food products.

Antioch University, which has a campus in Keene, New Hampshire, is offering its flagship college in Ohio for sale to any buyer than can provide the full payment up front.

State regulators in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have given final approvals for today's closing of a deal in which FairPoint Communications will acquire Verizon's landline phone and Internet service in the three states for $2.3 billion.

New Hampshire's intense effort to reach out to returning servicemen and women is paying off in the form of low unemployment rates for veterans.

The chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the Vermont House says he'd like lawmakers to consider lowering the threshold at which a driver is drunk behind the wheel from a blood-alcohol content of .08 percent to a lowest-in-the-nation .05.  

Vermont state officials say rising fuel costs are behind increases in maple syrup prices, which are expected to hit $40 per gallon at retail this year.

Questions are being raised about a $2 million plan to turn an old bridge from Milton into a refurbished span for bikes and pedestrians across the Missisquoi River in Swanton.

When his family landed in Vermont three years ago, Rwandan refugee Jean-Luc Dushime didn't speak English.

Sugarhouses across the state will be demonstrating the art of sugarmaking this weekend, and they'll open their doors to visitors.

Rick Marsh is President of the Vermont Maple Sugarmakers' Association. He says it hasn't been a great year, but producers have planned ahead.

Lawmakers are weighing legislation that would dedicate part of the state's sales tax revenues to the Fish and Wildlife Department.

The Bennington County state's attorney is asking the Vermont Supreme Court to reconsider a decision that would free a man serving a 12- to 20-year domestic assault sentence.

Here's yet another reason to be grateful for what some say is the lost art of letter writing. The only real option for long-distance correspondence in years gone by still yields surprising discoveries into the past, and one such discovery was made recently at Lyndon State College by library archivist Pat Webster.

She tells VPR's Mitch Wertlieb about the discovery.

Here are the top stories at 7:30 a.m.:

Will a protracted battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination hurt the Party's chances of winning the November election? Senator Patrick Leahy, who supports Obama, says the answer is yes, and he thinks Clinton should drop out of the race. The Bush administration has accepted a compromise from New Hampshire that will ensure the state's residents will not be barred from using their driver's licenses to enter federal buildings and board airplanes starting in May...

Will a protracted battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination hurt the Party's chances of winning the November election? Senator Patrick Leahy, who supports Obama, says the answer is yes, and he thinks Clinton should drop out of the race. But Clinton's supporters in Vermont have a very different opinion.

VPR's Bob Kinzel reports.

The Bush administration has accepted a compromise from New Hampshire that will ensure the state's residents will not be barred from using their driver's licenses to enter federal buildings and board airplanes starting in May.

Senior citizens who haven't had to file a tax return for years have to reacquaint themselves with the IRS this year.

The economic stimulus package adopted by Congress and the president earlier this year promises $300 payments to seniors who earn at least $3,000 a year.

There's no immediate word on why a Vermont District Court judge recused himself from the case of a Montreal woman charged with drowning her 8-year-old son in Lake Champlain.

An 80-year-old Milton man and his dog are safe after being rescued from Lake Champlain after the car they were riding in broke through the ice off the Milton shore.

The more the snow melts, the more the mystery deepens: What happened to Nicholas Garza?

The Vermont Human Rights Commission says there are reasonable grounds to believe Freedom Airlines discriminated against a New Mexico woman ordered off a plane after refusing to cover up while breast feeding her infant.

The University of Vermont and the Vermont Law School are teaming up to sponsor a series of events featuring author Kenji Yoshino. In his book "Covering - The Hidden Assault On Our Civil Rights", Yoshino calls for a redefinition of civil rights in our law and culture.

The Vermont Lottery is planning to spend $150,000 on a study aimed at determining what it can do to make more money for the state.

For nearly 4 decades, Diana Sidebotham has watched and worried, but also acted. The 75-year old Sidebotham is the former head of the nuclear watchdog group The New England Coalition, the only organization currently bringing a legal challenge to the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant's efforts to keep running for another 20 years beyond its 2012 expiration date.

Sidebotham speaks with VPR's Mitch Wertlieb about her retirement.

Here are the top stories at 7:30 a.m.:

Congressman Peter Welch says he wants to know why the Bush administration is exempting overseas contractors from the fraud and fiscal abuse laws of the United States; the Vermont Milk Company hopes a new investor and a new distributor are going to help put the operation back on its feet.

The Vermont Milk Company launched a year and a half ago with great fanfare and a promise to put more money in farmers' pockets.

But near-record prices have made it difficult for the company to pay farmers for the milk it needs to make ice cream, cheese and yogurt.

As VPR's Ross Sneyd reports, the company hopes a new investor and a new distributor are going to help put the operation back on its feet.

New Hampshire Governor John Lynch has urged the House Finance Committee to support a constitutional amendment that would let the state single out the neediest towns for school aid.

The Vermont Senate has passed a bill aimed at protecting the state's underground waters.

University of Vermont Police Chief Gary Margolis says it's disturbing that eight laptop computers were stolen from a dormitory, some while students were sleeping in the rooms.

State officials say they're satisfied with the way Vermont's banks are responding to a security breach at Hannaford's supermarkets   that exposed the credit card information of more than four million customers nationwide. 

One winner in this season's endless winter is bound to be snowmobile enthusiasts.

Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are scoring well in a study of the use of physical restraints in nursing homes.

A coalition of environmental groups says it's unlikely New England will meet its targets for global warming pollution reductions.

Congressman Peter Welch says he wants to know why the Bush administration is exempting overseas contractors from the fraud and fiscal abuse laws of the United States.

Welch says this is critically important, because over the past five years, more than 100 billion dollars has been spent on independent contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The co-founders of Ben and Jerry's ice cream are underwriting a campaign to protest China's support for Sudan.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield launched a three-vehicle caravan to San Francisco, where protests are expected to greet the only U.S. visit of the Olympic torch.

The Vermont House today waged a contentious debate about water pollution and property rights.

The bill would require landowners to leave an undeveloped buffer strip along lakes and streams.

But after hours of wrangling, Democratic leaders shelved the bill after watching support slip away.

A former U.S. poet laureate will be in Vermont tomorrow for a day-long series of poetry readings and workshops at Lyndon State College.

For the fifth year in a row, a national ranking lists New Hampshire as the "Most Livable State'' in the country.

If the popular image of older Americans was set in stone by the ArchieBunker character from the TV show "All in the Family" as a rigid, evenbigoted person set in their ways and afraid of change, a new survey suggests it might be time to change the channel. 

University of Vermont Professor of Sociology Nick Danigelis and colleagues dug deeper into how Americans' perceptions and opinions change -- or don't-- as they grow older. Danigelis speaks with VPR's Mitch Wertlieb about the study.

Here are the top stories at 7:30 a.m.:

The House Transportation Committee is frustrated by the worsening condition of the state's roads and highways, so the committee has taken the unusual step of trying to force the Douglas Administration to borrow money to pay for the needed repairs; some high school students in southern Vermont hope to help spread the darkness by participating in Earth Hour.

Around the world this weekend, activists are asking people to shut off their lights for an hour to dramatize global climate change. From Australia, to Chicago, the lights will go off at landmarks ranging from the Sydney Opera House to the Sears Tower.

And, as VPR's Ross Sneyd reports, some high school students in southern Vermont hope to help spread the darkness.

Police say a teenager defaced the Bennington Battle Monument and he's facing two felony charges.

A new report says home ownership continues to be out of reach for many Vermonters who don't make enough money to pay rent, let alone buying a house.

The Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife is reminding anglers that all ice fishing shanties must be removed from the ice no later than this Sunday, March 30th.

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services reports that despite the struggling economy, the state's made progress in reducing its homeless population.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is reminding Vermont businesses that they have until April 23 to apply for loans to help recover from flooding last July.

More work for the General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products plant in Burlington.

The House Transportation Committee is frustrated by the worsening condition of the state's roads and highways.

So the committee has taken the unusual step of trying to force the Douglas Administration to borrow money to pay for the needed repairs.

Several hundred people traveled to the Statehouse yesterday and asked lawmakers to crack down on repeat drunk drivers.

The group was motivated by the death of a Swanton teenager last November. The student was killed by a car that was traveling the wrong way on Interstate 89.

The driver was a repeat DUI offender, and he's been charged with being drunk in this case.

As the 2007 crime report is being tallied, officials say violence is more prevalent but they don't expect the statistics to show a dramatic increase in crime.

It's opening day of baseball season. The Red Sox are playing the Oakland A's in Tokyo, Japan. The time difference means that Vermont's baseball fans were up and at the bars at 6 a.m. to see the Sox play.

VPR's Jane Lindholm caught up with some devoted Red Sox fans at Nectar's in Burlington.

Here are the top stories at 7:30 a.m.:

Residents on Appletree Point, on Burlington's waterfront, fear their neighborhood could be overwhelmed by a 250-unit housing project; the initial results from Washington County senator Bill Doyle's Town Meeting Day questionnaire are in and they include some surprises...

Most of the area along Lake Champlain, north of downtown Burlington, was farmland into the early 1900s. Now, on one of the last remaining farmsteads, there's a proposal for 250-units for senior housing.

As VPR's Ross Sneyd reports, residents on Appletree Point fear their neighborhood could be overwhelmed.

New Hampshire Governor Lynch has created a task force charged with developing a plan for retaining young, skilled workers.

Vermont maple syrup producers are being asked to donate a gallon of their product for U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A former United Nations weapons inspector is coming to Vermont to speak.

FairPoint Communications has reached tentative agreements with two unions representing 2,500 Verizon employees.

Some children in Pownal who've never had dental care, will soon get it.

The snow is beginning to recede in Middlebury, and officials there will to try again Thursday in their search for a 19-year-old freshman who's been missing since February 5th.

The initial results from Washington County senator Bill Doyle's Town Meeting Day questionnaire are in and they include some surprises.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of this informal survey of how Vermonters feel about a number of issues being considered at the Statehouse.

Senator Patrick Leahy and Senator Arlen Specter got an earful today on what rural communities need to combat increasingly violent drug-related crime.

They held a Senate Judiciary hearing in Rutland and VPR's Nina Keck was there.

A nonprofit group is trying to raise $200,000 by the end of next week to create a temporary place to stay for homeless veterans living on the streets of Central Vermont.

Some neighbors are objecting to plans for a 30-unit housing development off Hinesburg Road in South Burlington.

Back in January we spoke with Chris Keller and Liam McSweeney. They're two Montpelier High School students who were taking the step of petitioning the Vermont Principal's Association to classify cross country running as a team sport. That's because their school didn't have a team, and under VPA rules they couldn't run as part of U-32's team because cross country is an individual sport.

Their petition was voted down by the VPA in a four to one vote. We find out more from Bob Johnson of the Vermont Principal's Association.

Here are the top stories at 7:30 a.m.: 

A Williston developer is offering to help the city of Burlington transform a National Guard armory into a recreation center.

Patrick Leahy and Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter -- the two most powerful members of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- are in Rutland this morning to hear what state and local leaders have to say about the increase in drug related violent crime.

As VPR's Nina Keck reports - many local residents welcome the chance to shine a light on what they call a growing problem.

Aging inmates have cost New Hampshire an additional $2 million in medical care this year.

The Vermont Agency of Transportation is going to reconsider a plan to buy small, self-propelled train cars that would be used on one of the state's Amtrak passenger routes.

Democrats have picked delegates for the party's state convention in May when the party will elect national delegates for the Democratic National Convention in August.

To offset high gas prices, some Vermonters are taking public transportation and cutting back on travel.

Off-season farmers markets continue to sprout up around Vermont.

The newest addition, in Lamoille County, is the first to be open in the same spot throughout the year.

VPR's Amy Noyes has more:

Vermont banks are moving to help consumers put at risk by a supermarket chain's data breach, reissuing cards and monitoring account activity in hopes of protecting them from fraud.

The Vermont Supreme Court will have some distasteful food for thought today when it convenes at Vermont Law School in South Royalton.

Anti-war protesters marked the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq with weekend rallies in Rutland and Burlington.

Among this year's special guests is Kathleen Carroll, who was the film critic for the New York Daily News for thirty years.

The two most powerful members of the Senate Judiciary Committee - Patrick Leahy and Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Spector - will be in Rutland on Monday to hear what state and local leaders have to say about the increase in drug related violent crime.   

VPR's Nina Keck has more. 

Anthony Pollina seized on several legislative issues this week to make his case that voters should turn to him over Governor Jim Douglas.

But, as VPR's Ross Sneyd reports, on at least one of the issues, the administration has shifted its position and now agrees with Pollina.

Here are the top stories at 7:30 a.m.:

A superior court judge has ruled that the owners of the i-brattleboro website are immune from a libel suit over comments posted on the site; the Woodstock Water Buffalo Company was sold this week, and the new owner promises to help expand markets for his and other artisan cheese makers' companies...

A small specialty cheese manufacturer, using milk from water buffalo, started with great promise five years ago. But it was forced to close last month when investors declined to put up more money.

As VPR's Ross Sneyd reports, the company was sold this week, and the new owner promises to help expand markets for his and other artisan cheese makers' companies.

For the first time in years, New Hampshire's Senate has approved a school aid plan that is based mostly on factors other than a town's property wealth -- regardless of Governor Lynch's objections that rich towns shouldn't get state help.

Some officials in Bennington County hope an expanded industrial area will attract new businesses and hundreds of jobs to the region.

About 2,300 Vermonters have just a few weeks to apply for $1.7 million they're owed in 2004 federal tax refunds.

Vermont Congressman Peter Welch is demanding information on how a loophole about overseas contracting was slipped into a plan to protect taxpayer money.

Three bands of Vermont Abenaki Indians say they're insulted by a proposal to address problems with a 2006 law that recognized Abenakis as a minority population, but not as a tribe.

Douglas doesn't like either bill and it's likely that he'll veto both of them.

This weekend in Barre the Vermont Frost Heaves are playing host to a couple dozen very tall, very talented men.

The American Basketball Association slam dunk contest and All Star game will be at the "Aud" on Friday and Saturday.

VPR's Jane Lindholm has the story.